This research project investigated the current scientific knowledge on flower visiting insects with special attention on their ecology, their toxicological sensitivity and their exposure towards pesticides. On this basis the key elements for an environmental risk assessment for flower visiting insects have been discussed and the feasibility and effectiveness of risk management options, which have to be considered during the application of pesticides, have been assessed.
Pollinators play a vital role in ecosystem health and are essential to ensuring food security. With declines in both managed and wild pollinator populations in recent years, scientists and regulators have sought answers to this problem and have explored implementing steps to protect pollinator populations now and for the future. Pesticide Risk Assessment for Pollinators focuses on the role pesticides play in impacting bee populations and looks to develop a risk assessment process, along with the data to inform that process, to better assess the potential risks that can accompany the use of pesticide products. Pesticide Risk Assessment for Pollinators opens with two chapters that provide a biological background of both Apis and non-Apis species of pollinators. Chapters then present an overview of the general regulatory risk assessment process and decision-making processes. The book then discusses the core elements of a risk assessment, including exposure estimation, laboratory testing, and field testing. The book concludes with chapters on statistical and modeling tools, and proposed additional research that may be useful in developing the ability to assess the impacts of pesticide use on pollinator populations. Summarizing the current state of the science surrounding risk assessment for Apis and non-Apis species, Pesticide Risk Assessment for Pollinators is a timely work that will be of great use to the environmental science and agricultural research communities. Assesses pesticide risk to native and managed pollinators Summarizes the state of the science in toxicity testing and risk assessment Provides valuable biological overviews of both Apis and non-Apis pollinators Develops a plausible overall risk assessment framework for regulatory decision making Looks towards a globally harmonized approach for pollinator toxicity and risk assessment
Pesticides are believed to be a major contributor to regional pollinator declines which hassled to pollination insecurity. This dissertation furthers the evolving process of integrating pollinator health into the Eastern US apple orchard IPM program that has been termed IPPM. It focuses on the pesticide risk assessment for orchard pollinators by measuring species-based differences in toxicity responses of wild bees and honey bees to pesticide exposure through ingestion by measuring delayed mortality and sublethal developmental effects on adults and larvae. We also compare pesticide regulations between the US and the EU that shows the pros and cons in present pesticide regulatory decisions of these countries, and suggest future directions in instructing new policies regarding pollinator health. Previously in this lab, pesticide residue levels in apple pollen and nectar were measured to quantify the ingestion exposure of adult and larval bees to commonly used orchard pesticides. In this study, we developed a new ingestion bioassay protocol for assessing pesticide toxicity to the larvae and adults of a solitary bee (Megachilidae: Osmia cornifrons) to compare its toxicity profile to the European honey bee. Results from several bioassays allowed us to evaluate the effectiveness of present IPPM pesticide recommendations and have already informed our decision to modify the timing and selection of several insecticide and fungicide pest control tactics to increase the safety to both managed and wild pollinators regionally. This information will also influence pesticide registration decisions and pesticide regulatory frameworks for pollinator protection in the future.
We have been witnessing a silent chemical revolution over the past half century. Pesticides bring widespread environmental contamination, with residues detected far from their site of application. These substances are playing havoc with the lives of humans and the environment because of their indiscriminate use. Pesticide Risk Assessment describes the environmental risks associated with the injudicious use of pesticides and their mixtures, their methods of estimation and assessment, and their regulation. It also contains methods to reduce and minimize the risks associated with the use of pesticides. The book: Examines pesticides, their impact on the environment, mode of action, estimation methods, risk assessment, mixture toxicity, alternatives for risk reduction, and regulatory aspects.Includes global case studies detailing cases of pesticide poisoning, and the health effects of exposure to pesticides. Covers risks to human health, aquifers and aquatic organisms, pollinators, soil micro flora and fauna, terrestrial organisms and wildlife. Suitable for anyone involved in pesticide application and integrated pest management, this is essential reading for researchers, scientists, extension workers and policy makers.
Pollinators-insects, birds, bats, and other animals that carry pollen from the male to the female parts of flowers for plant reproduction-are an essential part of natural and agricultural ecosystems throughout North America. For example, most fruit, vegetable, and seed crops and some crops that provide fiber, drugs, and fuel depend on animals for pollination. This report provides evidence for the decline of some pollinator species in North America, including America's most important managed pollinator, the honey bee, as well as some butterflies, bats, and hummingbirds. For most managed and wild pollinator species, however, population trends have not been assessed because populations have not been monitored over time. In addition, for wild species with demonstrated declines, it is often difficult to determine the causes or consequences of their decline. This report outlines priorities for research and monitoring that are needed to improve information on the status of pollinators and establishes a framework for conservation and restoration of pollinator species and communities.
If farmers had to pollinate fruit and vegetables without the help of insects it would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and we would all be stung by rising food prices. Defra Ministers, however, have refused to back EU efforts to protect pollinators. Disease, habitat loss and climate change can all affect insect populations, but a growing body of research suggests that neonicotinoids are having an especially damaging impact on pollinators. The weight of scientific evidence now warrants precautionary action, so the Committee is calling for a moratorium on pesticides linked to bee decline to be introduced by 1 January next year. An EU-wide moratorium on the use of imidacloprid, clothianidin and TMX on crops attractive to bees, following a recent risk warning from the European Food Safety Authority, has also been proposed. Many of the UK's largest garden retailers have voluntarily withdrawn non-professional plant protection products that contain neonicotinoids. A full ban on the sale of neonicotinoids for public domestic use, which could create an urban safe haven for pollinators is recommended. The pesticide industry must open itself to greater academic scrutiny if it wants to justify its continued opposition to the precautionary protection of pollinators. The Government's National Action Plan for the Sustainable Use of Pesticides published earlier this year was a missed opportunity, according to the Committee. Clearer targets are needed to reduce reliance on pesticides as far as possible. And Integrated Pest Management - which emphasises alternatives to pesticides, but does not preclude their use - should be made the central principle of the plan.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) are responsible for protecting species that are listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and for protecting habitats that are critical for their survival. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is responsible for registering or reregistering pesticides under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and must ensure that pesticide use does not cause any unreasonable adverse effects on the environment, which is interpreted to include listed species and their critical habitats. The agencies have developed their own approaches to evaluating environmental risk, and their approaches differ because their legal mandates, responsibilities, institutional cultures, and expertise differ. Over the years, the agencies have tried to resolve their differences but have been unsuccessful in reaching a consensus regarding their assessment approaches. As a result, FWS, NMFS, EPA, and the US Department of Agriculture asked the National Research Council (NRC) to examine scientific and technical issues related to determining risks posed to listed species by pesticides. Specifically, the NRC was asked to evaluate methods for identifying the best scientific data available; to evaluate approaches for developing modeling assumptions; to identify authoritative geospatial information that might be used in risk assessments; to review approaches for characterizing sublethal, indirect, and cumulative effects; to assess the scientific information available for estimating effects of mixtures and inert ingredients; and to consider the use of uncertainty factors to account for gaps in data. Assessing Risks to Endangered and Threatened Species from Pesticides, which was prepared by the NRC Committee on Ecological Risk Assessment under FIFRA and ESA, is the response to that request.
This publication addresses the need to strengthen the interface between the scientific community, knowledge-holders and policymakers, and build capacity for and strengthen the use of science and knowledge in policymaking on the topic of ecosystem services. With respect to the ecosystem service of pollination, FAO developed a protocol to identify and assess pollination deficits in crops – resulting in a global meta-analysis, with data from eleven countries. Results emerging from this endeavour give strong indication that pollination deficits may exist in a wide variety of farming systems across the world. As a response to this science, researchers and policymakers from the eleven countries considered the range and types of actions that can address pollination deficits, and developed an indicative set of policy responses. This publication is a result of this work, which considers the mainstreaming of ecosystem services at both national and international levels, with a focus on pollination services.
Based on discussions at the 2007 SETAC Europe PERAS Workshop in Coimbra, Semi-Field Methods for the Environmental Risk Assessment of Pesticides in Soil presents a timely summary of state-of-the-art higher-tier terrestrial risk assessment of plant protection products (PPPs). Influential regulators, academics, and industry scientists provide a compre
